Hassan Ali Khan

A few hundred crores to him must be like peanuts because Pune’s stud farm owner Hassan Ali Khan is no less a tycoon than DLF’s KP Singh, or perhaps worth more than him. That may be no big reason why Hassan Ali is making waves for the last couple of days. After all, India does have a few more billionaires like LN Mittal, Mukesh and Anil Ambani and Azim Premji.

The reason Hassan Ali scores over them all and will remain etched in India’s list of super-rich is that most of his Rs.35,000 crore wealth is in black money. The sheer magnitude of this gigantic amount must qualify him as India’s second wonder after Taj Mahal.

Hassan Ali, originally from Hyderabad, has been an active participant in Mumbai and Pune’s racing circuit. The 53-year old trades in thoroughbreds, owns a couple of Mercs and several properties in the 2 cities.

But none of these could prepare the IT department officials to fathom what they’re going to unravel when they raided Hassan Ali’s palatial abode, Tulip in Pune’s Koregaon on Jan 5 last. In fact, well into 2 months since the raid, the IT sleuths still could not assimilate his total wealth. Seven out of at least 10 Swiss bank accounts of his have been sealed. And now the RAW and CBI are both investigating into his matters.

Hassan Ali has gone missing but the investigating agencies are hot on his trail. The joke going round is if he is caught, he may well find himself in Forbes’ billionaires list before he is hauled to court for seeking ‘justice’. Quite a feat, won’t you say! It won’t be a surprise if a Bollywood potboiler comes on the way soon after his colorful life.